Russian arms caches still hidden across Britain, says historian

Ben Farmer

London: Booby-trapped caches of weapons are probably still hidden around Britain after being concealed during the Cold War by Soviet agents preparing for conflict, a leading historian has said.

Details of how clandestine stockpiles of small arms and communications gear were hidden across Europe are disclosed in a KGB intelligence archive made public for the first time.

The trove of files copied down by a KGB archivist called Vasili Mitrokhin over a 12-year period before he defected in 1992 is considered one of the most invaluable intelligence sources of the Cold War and provides a detailed insight into Soviet spy operations.

Nineteen of 33 box files containing his notes are being opened to the public at Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge. Mitrokhin's notes provide detailed descriptions of weapons caches hidden outside major European cities for use by agents operating abroad should tensions escalate into a conflict.

Professor Christopher Andrew, a historian and friend of Mitrokhin who has written two books on the archive, said caches were hidden around most major cities.

Some of the caches hidden around Europe have since been uncovered and, although the archive provides no details of hidden weapons in Britain, many are almost certainly here, he said.

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He added: "Given that Britain was second only to the United States in terms of importance to the Soviets at this time, it would be remarkable if this tactic wasn't deployed here. Of course by now they would not be easy to find and it is unlikely the weapons would be serviceable."

Describing one stash near Berne, Switzerland, Mitrokhin, who died in 2004, provides directions to a chapel near a farm: "After taking 36 steps, you will be at the point between two large leafy trees, the only ones in the sector.

"The distance between the trees is three paces. The area between the trees has been used for the cache."

Another note provides instructions on how to disarm explosive booby-traps on the caches.

Mitrokhin defected in 1992 after the fall of the Soviet Union, bringing more than 25,000 pages of secret files to the British embassy.

"Once there, he opened his suitcase, revealing the documents along with his dirty underpants and food he had packed for the journey and asked to speak to somebody in authority," Professor Andrew said.

Once the value of his offer became clear, he and his family were brought to Britain.

His duties with the KGB had included overseeing the transfer of the agency's archive to a new location, meaning he had unlimited access to thousands of files from a global network of spies and intelligence gathering operations.

Disenchanted with the Soviet regime, he began making copies and extraordinarily detailed notes. At first he would screw his notes into tiny balls to smuggle them out in his shoe but soon realised that his position meant he could not be searched so he could simply slip them into his pocket.